I’m a struggling to follow the logic of Mrs May throwing down this gauntlet unless she is preparing the ground for a general election.

Jeremy Corbyn is said to "relish" the chance of a Brexit TV debate with Theresa May (Image: Barcroft/Getty)

It gives Jeremy Corbyn a platform and, by defining the Brexit debate on party lines, undermines her attempt to reach out to Labour voters and MPs by appealing for the country to come together.

Her sales pitch is you can either have my Brexit or the chaos of a no deal or no Brexit at all.

Others may decide that, having sent her off to buy a new car, they should not be obliged to purchase the clapped-out old banger she’s purchased from a second-hand dealer.

The whole premise of the PM’s sales pitch is based on a falsehood.

There was a better offer on the table - the Norway option - but she refused to consider it because it fails to guarantee an end to freedom of movement which she unilaterally decided was the main reason why people voted to leave.

One of the reasons Labour is so reluctant to back her deal is the way it is being presented as a fail accompli.

Yvette Cooper summed up the feelings of many of her colleagues in a tweet yesterday: “The trouble with this “renewal & reconciliation” stuff from the Prime Minister is that she’s done the complete opposite for the last two & a half years. She never consulted on the objectives, never tried to build consensus. How on earth does she expect people to believe her now?”

It was Labour MPs such as Ms Nandy that Mrs May was counting on to get the agreement through Parliament.

The Prime Minister is also being dishonest by claiming her deal will secure a “brighter future” where we will be able to sign free trade deals with non EU countries and use the savings from our contributions to the EU to fund the NHS.

She knows that her deal will mean the country taking an economic hit, that there are no trade deals with third countries which will mitigate the loss of trade that comes from leaving the single market and customs union and that a poorer country will have less money to spend on public services.

By all means sell her deal as the one she believes best fulfils the result of the referendum but her case would be stronger if she levelled with the public about the exact consequences of following such a path and admitted she has been driven from the start by party interest rather than the national one.

Today's agenda:

9.30am - Michael Gove speech on the dangers of global warming.

10.30am - Theresa May chairs Cabinet.

2.30pm - Gavin Williamson takes Defence questions in the Commons.

3.30pm approx - Theresa May statement to Commons on the Brexit deal.

4.45pm - Transport companies and union leaders give evidence to Transport select committee on state of the bus market.